CAIRO - Newly appointed Vice President Omar Suleiman has appeared briefly on Egyptian TV, not saying much, if anything at all. Then he fades into the secrecy and quiet diplomacy that intelligence chiefs like him usually prefer. One day he is with President Hosni Mubarak, the next in Israel, then back to Egypt to whisper in the ear of the President. Suleiman, the former chief of the intelligence service, has been on Mubarak's side on different occasions, including a 1995 ambush on the President's motorcade that killed two security officers in Addis Ababa. It is this loyalty to Egypt and President Mubarak. Suleiman has the military background that has defined leaders since Gamal Abdel Nasser seized power in a 1952 revolution in Egypt. He has years of diplomatic relations with the US, Israel and the Arab world, and he's a staunch supporter of economic and political reform. This balance is important to the West, especially the US. Suleiman , now 76, is a bridge and power-broker between Egypt's military and intelligence. His appointment as vice president has been welcomed in Egypt and elsewhere. Suleiman's profile has been rising since 1993 when he became the chief of the intelligance service. He was the chief negotiator in talks that led to a truce between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. His success has lifted Egypt's credibility as a strategic player in the region, an image weakened over the last decade by the country's economic and political problems, along with the growing influence of Saudi Arabia. Suleiman was born in the Upper Egyptian Governorate of Qena. He enrolled in the Military Academy and distinguished himself in the Arab- Israeli wars in 1967 and 1973. He moved through the ranks of the intelligence service and in 1995 was credited with saving Mubarak's life by insisting that he should travel in a bullet proof limousine during a visit to Ethiopia. Mubarak and Suleiman were in the car leaving the airport at Addis Ababa when terrorists fired at the motorcade. The bullets did not pierce the President's car. Suleiman, who became more visible after the attack, knows the threats from terrorist groups that killed hundreds in this country in the 1990s. This week, he called for an open and constructive dialogue with all opposition forces to resolve the present crisis. Suleiman has the image of a respected law-and-order man, who represents stability in a time of rising social tension.
